A Nice Day
by paperbackrider
Summary: Marty loved to go scuba diving. But he never believed in Mermaids until he finds himself face to face with the most beautiful mermaid ever.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

A Nice Day

It was a beautiful day both above and below the sea. The water was clear and there wasn't a cloud in sight. Ariel was taking a morning swim through the coral reef. She was accompanied by her best friend Flounder.

"Such a beautiful peaceful day wouldn't you agree flounder?" Ariel sighed. She had since forgotten about Eric. It had been so long since she was human it was more like a distant memory. She was able to readjust and move on with her life.

"Yeah its so quiet... no scary things... only silence" He said floating on his back in a relaxed position. He loved going out with Ariel for swims like this it reminded him of the old days. Because Ariel was human though she knew everything that fell into the sea and stopped going on "adventures" a long time ago.

Ariel relaxed and gently floated down on top of the reef and closed her eyes.

Meanwhile up on the surface...

A young man is about to go scuba diving to test his new invention... the re breather. What it does is it takes oxygen from the surrounding water and allows the wearer to breathe forever underwater. No air tanks!

"You set?" Ray asked Marty. Ray was Marty's best friend and scuba buddy for Five years now. But today he would be diving alone. To make sure the thing works he will have to stay under for two days. During which time Ray will go back to the harbor and wait until his friend calls for him on the radio.

"Almost" Marty said as he turned around and grabbed the radio. He slipped it into one of the back pockets on his belt. "One last thing" Marty said picking up the re breather. The device was actually very small so it wasn't uncomfortable to use for hours on end. After all what good is something if its too much of a hassle to use? It was essentially a mask that sealed around the face so the user could see, breathe, and talk to other scuba divers. The actual breathing apparatus was mounted on the side of the mask and resembled a snorkel. Marty finished putting on his flippers and dry suit.

"Alright now remember if anything happens just radio for me and ill be here in like 20 minutes" Ray said to his friend as he walked over to the side of the boat. Marty sat down on the edge of the boat and looked up at his friend.

"Dude ill be fine... what you don't have any faith in my invention?" Marty asked.

"None whatsoever" Ray replied with a grin.

"Well here I go" Marty said sticking the device in his mouth and jumping into the water. He popped up a short time later and gave him a thumbs up before diving beneath the waves.

Ariel Woke up on the reef and realized hat she had fallen asleep. She looked round to see flounder asleep next to her. He was curled up in a ball and looked so cute and peaceful. Ariel stroked his blue back fin. Suddenly Ariel hear something strange in the distance. At first it sounded like a humming, but as it got closer Ariel could tell it was loud and moving fast. Ariel kept spinning around trying to find the source of the noise. It was now a roaring sound and sounded like... it was right above her! Ariel glanced up to see something moving fast on the surface. Ariel marveled at the sight as it sped away. She wondered if it was human, she hadn't seen a human since she became a mermaid again and wondered for the first time since she left what the human world was like.

Flounder was woken up by the sound of the motor boat overhead and got scared. He immediately got up and swam over to Ariel and hide in her think red hair.

"What was that?" Flounder asked.

"I don't know" Ariel said looking up at the surface hoping the thing would return. They looked for a few minutes before realizing that the thing wasn't coming back and sunk to the sea floor. Ariel was curious as to what was making that loud noise and what made the thing move so fast?

Marty was amazed at the variety of fish he was seeing. Some of them weren't even supposed to be in this part of the sea! There were tropical fish... out here... in the ocean! Why were all these fish here? Marty wondered to himself. As he studied the fish more carefully he could tell that they were... watching him? Yes they did appear to be studying him and his every move. Feeling little scared he spotted a old shipwreck and swam towards it curious as to what was inside.

Ariel started to swim back towards Atlantica when she spotted something swimming towards an old shipwreck.

"Whats that?" Ariel asked flounder.

"Whats what?" Flounder replied looking in the direction Ariel was looking. They saw something black swim into the boat through one of the portholes.

"Come on flounder!" Ariel said grabbing Flounders fin and swimming towards the boat.

"AAARRRIIIIEEELLLLL!" Flounder cried as Ariel pulled him along.

Ariel let go of flounder and motioned for him to be quiet and swam up alongside the ship. Slowly and carefully Ariel peered into the ship through a porthole. At first she didn't see anything but then suddenly she saw something swimming through the ship. It looked like a merman but with a split tail or two tails. Their was something on his face that had bubbles coming from it.

Ariel suddenly started to swim into the ship which made flounder flip out.

"Ariel What Are You Doing?" Flounder whispered

Ariel ignored him and continued to swim towards the mysterious... what ever it was.

She swam up behind the creature and hesitated for a second then composed herself.

"Um Excuse me?" Ariel said timidly.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Surprise Surprise

"Excuse me?" Came a voice from behind Marty who became immediately confused. Wasn't he underwater? He spun around (as fast as you could possibly spin underwater) startling both the girl and himself.

"HOLY SH-... SH- OH My GOD!" Marty said moving away from the mermaid that was in front of him. A REAL FREAKING MERMAID! Marty's brain screamed. He soon found it difficult to breathe and realized he was breathing too hard. Getting his breathing and heart rate under control was no easy task but he still managed to do it and quickly too. He looked at the mermaid and marveled at how beautiful she was. Bright red hair the was floating all over as if it had a mind of its own, flawless pale skin, bright green tail, purple seashell bra, she was stunning and looked so weird floating there so comfortable and content. She looked like he was in space, floating perfectly still and when she moved she glided through the water so gracefully.

"I didn't mean to scare you" Ariel said putting on her comfort face. She could tell there was something... unfishy about this creature that had two fins and a black body like a whale. However Ariel never let a good adventure pass by so she continued to talk.

"What are you?" Ariel asked swimming over to him and circling him like a shark.

"What do you mean?" Marty responded nervously. His voice was shaky and he couldn't believe what was happening.

"I've never see a creature like you before, your half human half merfolk" Ariel said still circling him. She finally stopped swimming and looked him in the face.

Now Marty was freaking out. It took him all his strength to not run away or pass out or yell at the top of his lungs. Ariel smiled and reached out to touch him. She hesitated for a second then slowly reached out to feel his weird lack skin. What kind of creature is he? Ariel thought to herself letting her curiosity get the better of her.

Oh no she going to touch me! Marty thought panicking. He instinctively moved back which made Ariel move closer.

"Whats wrong?" She said in her sweet caring voice. Her soothing voice did very little to calm down Marty who had had enough. He had herd the tales of mermaids drowning sailors, cruel, evil, they seem sweet but will lead you to your death.

Marty spun around and began swimming away as fast and furiously as he could. Leaving a trail of bubbles in his wake. Ariel floated motionless pondering what to do before snapping back into reality.

"Wait!" Ariel yelled swimming after him. "Wait!" She yelled again. Marty looked back to see her swimming after him... and fast. There was no way he would be able to out swim her! He turned his attention away from the mermaid and looked to see where he was going... before smashing into a reef.

Ariel watched in horror as the scared fish slammed into a coral reef. It floated there for a moment before floating down to the ocean floor landing in a cloud of dust.

"Poor thing" Ariel said to herself as flounder swam up to her.

"Why was it scared of you?" Flounder asked.

"Maybe its never seen a mermaid before... just like when we first met. You were so scared and cute" Ariel said smiling at the memory.

She swam over to the creature and looked at it more closely.

"Its hideous" Flounder said. He examined the "fins" of the creature and looked at the face mask.

"FLOUNDER!" Ariel said in a hurt tone. "That's not nice! He's just like you and me" Ariel said playfully hitting flounder.

"Sorry" Flounder said grinning. Ariel swam over and looked at the creatures face. It was covered with some sort of glass. Funny, Ariel thought to herself, I thought only humans use glass?

Ariel saw that there were bubbles coming out of the mask and noticed he was breathing.

Ariel reached out to take off the mask and was startled when he started to open his eyes.

Chapter 3

Who Are YOU!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Who Are YOU!

At first Marty didn't know what was going on or that he was underwater. But after he saw flounder he started t flip out but seeing that he was cornered he just gave up and let whatever was going to happen happen.

"Are you okay?" Ariel asked in a sweet voice. She was deeply concerned for the creature and wanted to make sure it wasn't lost and was okay.

"I-I-I'm fine" Marty said. He was not fine though Nooooo! Far from it he was scared for his life btu at the same time he was petrified by this girls beauty.

"Where did you come from?" Ariel asked curious as to what part of the ocean he came from.

"The The The The..." Marty started.

"The reef?" Ariel interjected. She knew that the reef was full of weird and unusual creatures but she had never seen anything like this before.

Marty shook his head.

"No" Marty said pointing up at the surface. Ariel was now confused as to what this meant. She knew for a fact that no creatures on and looked like him.

"The surface?" Ariel asked slowly.

"ARIEL!" Flounder screamed before Marty could answer. Ariel turned to see a great white shark heading straight towards them.

"EVERY FISH FOR THEMSELVES!" Flounder screamed as he swam by them.

"OH NO come on follow me" Ariel said grabbing my hand and pulling me away from the shark.

"Relax it wont hurt you" Marty said with a smile. "I would know, I study sharks and their behaviors" Marty said.

"Don't be stupid sharks eat everything and anything" Ariel said pulling me out of the way just as the shark chomped down right where Marty once stood. Marty gulped and soon was panicking again.

"Time to go" Marty said in a shaky and uneasy voice before swimming as fast as he possibly could. Unfortunately for him he was no sea creature and thus couldn't out swim the shark even if he was an Olympic swimmer. But fortunately for him Ariel COULD out swim a shark. Seeing that he was in trouble Ariel grabbed Marty's hand and swam as fast as she could.

After weaving in and out of canyons, coral reefs, caves, and seaweed forests they were finally safe. Coincidentally they found themselves at the entrance to Ariel's old grotto.

"I haven't been here in a while" Ariel said to herself swimming over to the rock covering the entrance.

"Whats in here?" Marty asked swimming over to her to help her move the rock out of the way.

"My human treasures" Ariel said with a wide smile. Treasure? Marty thought to himself. Moving the rock out of the way the three of them made their way into the cave. Marty was excited... until he saw her definition of "Treasure". It was nothing but ordinary human things and there was a pile of broken human things in the corner of the cave.

"Check it out I bet you've never seen this before!" Ariel said excitedly as she turned around to show him a book.

"A book?" Marty asked confused. It finally hit him. SHE THINKS IM A FISH! Marty thought to himself. Until now he had assumed that she had known he was a human.

"How did you know?" Ariel asked confused and disappointed that she didn't surprise him.

"OH... um... I … study humans a lot" Marty said with a grin.

"How?" Ariel asked.

"I just... watch them I guess?" Marty said at a loss for words. What does she mean how?

"Oh" Ariel said turning away and examining her book. Marty happened to glance at the title of the book and was surprised.

"May I see that book?" Marty asked.

"Of course" Ariel said with a smile handing him the book. Marty examined the the cover and smiled.

Hans Christian Andersen's book of Fairy tales. Marty smiled at the irony and opened up the book. He scrolled through the pages until he found what he was looking for.

"Can you read human words?" Marty asked.

"Why yes I can" Ariel replied with a smile.

"Well then have you read this story?" He asked showing her the page with the-little-mermaid.

"Yes I have" Ariel said in a sad voice.

"Whats wrong?" Marty asked concerned.

"Nothing its just... nothing" Ariel said shaking her head and smiling again. "Come on lets go" Ariel said grabbing him by the wrist.

"Where?" Marty asked.

"Where else? ...Atlantica!" Ariel said with a laugh.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

home sweet home

Marty swam alongside Ariel who was swimming slowly to let Marty keep up. They swam past amazing sights and Marty kept stopping to gape at the amazing things he saw. Ariel got suspicious at the way he was acting and took note of the fact he acted like he had never been in the sea before.

"Marty?" Ariel asked. "Where are you from?... For real?" Ariel said crossing her arms and staring him down. There was no way she was going to let this weird creature into Atlantic if it was going to hurt people. Normally she would be fine with it but not with him... he was acting too strange.

"Uh... I'm from... uhhh" Marty had to think fast he didn't want to scare her away or have her attack him.

"I'm waiting" Ariel said tapping her finger on her arm. Flounder floated behind Ariel with his fins crossed and an annoyed look on his face.

"I don't remember" Marty tried. Maybe just maybe shell believe me.

"You don't think you can lie to me and get away with it. Do you?" Ariel said with a smile. She swam over to Marty and circled him. "Come on PLEASE tell me where your from?" Ariel said with a cute face. Marty sighed and took a deep breath.

"I'm- I'm..." Marty's heart was pounding and he felt like he should tel the truth.

"ARIEL!" a loud voice said behind him. Marty spun around and looked at a huge merman with a gold... trident? Marty fainted.

Hours later Marty woke up inside a … room? Oh no. he thought remembering what happened earlier. But wait how did I end up here? And where is here? Marty got up and checked to make sure his rebreather was working properly.

"The boys back home will never believe this one!" Marty said to himself as he got up from the bed which was made of what looked like sponge.

"Amazing" Marty said under his breath. Little did he know a little red headed mermaid was watching him as he explored his new room.

Marty looked all around and marveled at the room puzzled as to what it made of.

"I wish I had my camera with me" Marty said with a sigh. He knew that he would probably never see this place again. Also he wanted to brag to his friends and finally prove the existence of mermaids to the world.

"Whats a camera?" Ariel said swimming into the room. She had heard enough and wanted answers. She swam over right in front of him and crossed her arms again.

"Dammit!" Marty said pounding his fist through the water... He was caught.

"Listen tell me where your from and I promise I wont tell daddy" Ariel said.

"Fine" Marty said. He wasn't scared anymore... he was frustrated. He wanted to keep his identity a secret but the jig was up.

"I'm human" Marty said with a half smile waiting for her to scream or call her "daddy".

"I knew there was something unfishy about you!" Ariel said excitedly. "But how are you breathing underwater?" Ariel asked confused.

"Its a little invention of mine I was testing it out today when I met you" Marty said.

"Can I see it?" Ariel asked excitedly.

"Sorry but no I need it to BREATHE" He said putting a special emphasis on breathe.

"Oh right sorry" Ariel said blushing at her foolishness.

"Come on lets talk somewhere else somewhere... private" Ariel said motioning for him to follow as she swam out the window.

"Where are we going?" Marty said as he swam after her.

"My secret grotto" Ariel replied.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Cave of Questions

Marty swam for what seemed like hours until finally they reached their destination. A small opening to what looked like a cave that was covered by a large rock.

"How are we going to move that giant boulder?" Marty asked out of breath from the swim. Ariel looked at him with a smile and grabbed the rock pulling it out of the way.

"Were not on land things aren't as heavy... also the rock is fake" Ariel said swimming inside the cave.

"Wait what do you mean the rock is fake?" Marty asked following her into the cave. It was very dark in the cave but there seemed to be a stream of light in the center of the cave.

"This is where I keep all my human things" Ariel said with her arms outstretched and twirling around in circles in the center of the cave.

As Marty swam in he gasped in surprise. There were human things lining the room from wall to wall. There was a treasure chest in one corner, a lamp in another, silverware on one of the ledges of the cave, a globe and much much more.

"Where did you get all this?" Marty asked looking around in awe at all the things that lined the room.

"I found it all while out searching the ocean. Many of them I found interesting and wanted to know more about" Ariel said picking up a piece of a statue. He looked into the eyes of the broken face from a while and Marty could have sworn he saw her start to cry.

"Whats that you got there?" Marty said pointing to the face in her hands.

"Its nothing just something I found... a long time ago" She said sadly and softly.

"You okay?" Marty asked. Ariel laughed a little and hid all her sadness.

"I should be asking YOU that question. After all your underwater!" Ariel said swimming over to him and poking him in the side.

"Hey!" Marty exclaimed.

"What kind of … clothe are these?" Ariel asked curiously.

"Its a wetsuit. It keeps me dry and warm from the cold" Marty answered.

"And why do you have fins?" Ariel asked turning her attention to his feet.

"They are not real fins. They are made of plastic and help me to swim underwater" Marty said smiling to himself at the absurdity of the situation.

"Whats plastic?" Ariel asked.

"Its uh... hmm... I.. I don't know. I'm sorry I just don't know how to explain it" Marty said sadly. But Ariel just giggled.

"Its okay" she said giggling. Her voice was so beautiful Marty could feel his heart rate go up every time she talked.

"SOOOOO... you live down here?" Marty asked the redheaded girl.

"Yep" Ariel replied with her back turned to him. She was clearing a pot to lie down and talk with the... human!

"So what do you do down here?" Marty asked curiously.

"We play and sing and have fun" Ariel said finishing her task. She spun around and in one graceful move landed on her back with her hands behind her head.

"How come we never see you? I mean we rule the seas with submarines, battleships, fis... sport boats ect" Marty said with a smile. FISHING BOATS! HOW CAN I BE SO STUPID! Marty screamed in his head. He was just glad that she didn't seem to notice his slip.

"Submarines? Battleships? What are you talking about? My FATHER rules the seas! Not humans. If humans were meant to rule the seas they would have fin... real fins" Ariel said with a disapproving look.

"Who's your father?" Marty asked.

"King Triton" Ariel replied.

"Hes real!" Marty replied with shock.

"OF COURSE HES REAL" Ariel said laughing. Se found the fact that her father was a myth incredibly funny.

"Wh-wh-what?" Marty said a little shocked and scared. He had heard the sea king hates humans and kills them whenever he sees them.

"Does... he … kill humans?" Marty asked nervously.

"Of course not!" Ariel said with a giggle. Her father may have a temper but he would never kill anyone. He was just too gentle.

"So tell me where do you come from?" Ariel asked.

"United States" Marty said.

"Wheres that?" Ariel asked. She batted her eyes and smiled her sweet smile to make sure he kept talking.

"Here ill show you on this globe" Marty said swimming over to the globe that was on the second ledge in the cave. Ariel got up and swam over next to him, her red hair floating peacefully in the air. Because there was no current in the cave her hair floated slowly down.

"Now lets see... hm... wait a minute! There's no America on this globe" Marty said in shock at how old the globe was.

"What do you mean? Whats America?" Ariel asked curiously trying to get a better look at the globe.

"Its a large continent which isn't anywhere on here" Marty said looking for a date.

"Whats a continent?" Ariel asked curiously.

"Oh my god" Marty said smacking himself in the head.

And so they exchanged questions and answers for what seemed like hours. Marty was getting very tired of answering questions even if some were funny.

"ARIEL!" Came Triton's voice in the distance. "ARIEL" he called again.

"Oh no its my father... come on!" Ariel said getting up and swimming out of the cave.

"Wait... FATHER?" Marty called swimming out after her.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

DADDY!

"Ariel!" Triton called. "Ariel" now where is that girl Triton thought.

"Daddy" Ariel yelled as she swam over to him.

"There you are! You've been gone for hours! We were starting to get worried" Triton said.

"Daddy I used to be gone for days sometimes" Ariel said. True she hadn't been going on adventures much lately she still was annoyed that her father had interrupted her study session with the human.

"I still worry though Ariel. I'm your father its my job" he said giving her a hug.

"Daddy why did you call me?" Ariel asked smiling.

"Because Ariel YOUR guest is missing" Triton said in a annoyed tone. He knew Ariel probably was showing him around and trying to get to know him.

"Oh daddy, hes not missing. I was talking with him and showing him around" Ariel said.

Triton could tell his daughter was hiding something. He knew by the way she seemed calm and happy... too calm and happy.

"Oh and where is he?" Triton asked raising an eyebrow.

"I'm right here your majesty" Marty said waving. He had been watching from afar and could tell Ariel needed some help keeping is identity a secret.

"Ariel was just showing me her grotto" Marty said swimming over to greet the sea king. As he got closer he lost all his confidence as he saw how big the sea king was.

"Oh really? And do you find human things interesting?" Triton asked curiously. He knew the sea creature would say no. after all it was probably hunted to near extinction because of them.

"Yes I do" Marty replied.

"What?" Triton said shocked. He had never met anyone who liked humans as Ariel did. Even flounder was afraid of human things even after what had happened years ago with Eric.

"You mean that you actually find humans interesting?" Triton asked in disbelief.

"Yes I do... I believe we can learn a lot from them" Marty said trying to think of an explanation.

"You mean how to hunt and hurt others? That's not my idea of a nice world!" Triton bellowed.

"They don't just hurt other! They learn and adapt, they figure out way to live happily, they use science to improve and advance in the world" Marty said defending his race.

"If they were so clever they would have figured a way to breathe underwater by now and made talks of peace with the merpeople" Triton said confident that he had won the argument.

"He he, shows how much you know" Marty said under his breath.

"What was that?" Triton asked.

"Nothing your majesty" Marty said bowing in n effort to end the conversation.

"Very well" Triton said eyeing him up and down. He knew that something was up and he was determined to get to the bottom of it.

He turned around and started off towards Atlantica before stopping and turning around to face Ariel.

"I want you home at sunset Ariel do you understand?" Triton said in a soft but firm tone.

"Yes daddy" Ariel said sheepishly.

And with that Triton turned around and swam off back home. Ariel let out a sigh of relief and sank down to the ocean floor.

"That... was close" Ariel said. Marty swam over and sat down next to Ariel and for once took in how beautiful she was. Her purple shell bikini complimented her vibrant red hair and stunning green tail.

"Ariel... are you okay?" Marty asked noticing that she seemed depressed. Ariel was caught off guard by the question. She hadn't know that she was acting depressed until now.

"What? Oh yeah fine" Ariel said.

"Are you sure... you seem a little upset" Marty said.

"Well... its my father. Hes always being unfair and suspicious, don't get me wrong hes really nice but he can sometimes be a little... stubborn" Ariel said letting all her thoughts out.

"Hes your father. Its his job to protect you, imagine what would happen if something happened to you? He would never forgive himself" Marty said trying to act like an expert on the matter.

"Thanks" Ariel said giving him a funny grin.

"Come on lets go see what flounders doing" Ariel said getting up.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The Surface

Ariel and Marty swam for a few minutes before finally reaching flounders home.

"Wait here" Ariel said before swimming off and looking for her best friend. She didn't want flounder to freak out about Marty being there and accidentally tell everyone he was human.

A few minutes later Ariel emerged with her friend swimming in front of her talking to her about something.

"Ariel come on!" Flounder whined. "You know what will happen if your father finds out"

"Finds out about what?" Marty asked as flounder swam backwards into him.

"AHH" The frighten fish cried.

"Oh Flounder relax" Ariel said swimming over to Marty. "Besides daddy doesn't need to know"

"Know what?" Marty asked.

"Ariel wants to go to the surface... again!" Flounder whined.

"Whats wrong with that?" He asked.

"Well I haven't been to the surface in a REALLY long time. So it could be dangerous" Ariel said sadly. She wondered to herself why she didn't go to the surface in such a long time. Was it because she was sad about losing Eric? Did she lose interest in the world above after living in it for so many years? Ariel asked herself these questions and took a moment to think.

"Why?" Marty asked.

"What?" Ariel said snapping out of her trance.

"Oh uh... I don't know... I guess I just got bored" Ariel said sadly. How could she have gotten bored with the surface?

"You okay?" Marty asked with a worried look though his mask. The gir... mermaid seemed to be sad for some reason. And for some other reason he felt bad for her.

"What? Yeah ...I'm fine" Ariel said sadly. He was about to question her further but she suddenly started swimming... up towards his world.

"Oh no" Marty whispered under his breath. He was sure that she would be seen... or worse! Her curiosity might take over and she'll do something stupid.

"WAIT FOR ME!" Flounder yelled as he raced after the green tailed maiden. The girl really did look like she belonged in the sea. Yet there was something... different about her. She seemed... too... human... like she knew how to interact with him easily.

Ariel swam all the way to the surface and stopped just before she breached the surface. She stared up at the sun through the remaining few inches of water that separated her from the human world. Ariel took a deep breath and slowly poked her head out of the water.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Humans

Ariel took her first breath of air in years and noticed something different. It seemed to be... heavier or more dense and foul. As if something was in the air contaminating it. Ariel looked around but didn't see any land near her. Disappointed Ariel turned around to see Marty surface with flounder. Marty grabbed the back of his mask and fiddled with the straps for a few minutes before finally undoing them. He took hold of his mask and carefully removed it feeling fresh air rush in.

"Ah that's better" Marty said with a smile as he took a few deep breaths of fresh air. Marty looked at Ariel who looked really pale in the sunlight. But he also noticed that something was bothering her.

"Whats wrong?" Marty asked hoping this time she wouldn't avoid the question.

"The air seems... different to me. Its not as fresh as it used to be for some reason" Ariel said looking around.

"Yeah yeah yeah, this is all cool and exciting but can we PLEASE get going?" Flounder said looking around to make sure it was safe.

"Oh Flounder why are you such a guppy?" Ariel said rolling her eyes and giving a sigh.

"I'm NOT a guppy! I just happen to care about getting caught in a fishing net!" Flounder protested. But Ariel had heard enough and blocked him out. Suddenly Ariel spotted something in the distance.

"Whats that?" Ariel asked pointing to the two objects. Marty followed her finger and gaze to two wave runners speeding around with two people on each of them. Suddenly Ariel started to swim towards the people.

"WAIT ARIEL!" Marty called jumping on top of her before she got away.

"HEY GET OFF!" Ariel cried trying to push Marty off her.

"No you cant be seen by them!" Marty said. He kept his grip on her as she tried to throw him off. He watched as the wave runners turned around and started speeding off into the distance.

"LET GO!" Ariel said annoyed.

"NO" Marty said waiting until they were well out of sight.

"PLEASE?" Ariel asked in a sweet and childlike tone.

"Nope" Marty said not falling for her tricks.

"MARTY!" Ariel said getting ticked off. Marty saw the wave runners disappear from view and finally released his grip.

Ariel turned around and punched him in the shoulder.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?" Ariel asked angrily. Her blue eyes burned into Marty like torches.

"I was trying to protect you" Marty said calmly rubbing his throbbing shoulder. For a such a thin and frail girl she sure knew how to throw a good punch.

"Why would I need protecting?" Ariel said her tone slightly calmer but still very angry.

"YOU WERE ABOUT TO GO UP TO HUMANS! WHAT WERE YOU PLANNING ON DOING, SAYING HI?" Marty said letting his temper get the better of him.

"I... I..." Ariel said both stunned at his sudden outburst and surprised that he was right.

"That's what I thought" Marty said softly and sadly. He put his mask back on and slipped beneath the waves.

"Wait!" Ariel said swimming after him a minute later.

"WAIT" Ariel said swimming over to him.

"What?" Marty asked.

"I'm sorry about what happened earlier and I would like to make it up to you by joining us for dinner" Ariel said with a gleam of hope in her eyes. Marty would hate to see that hope be extinguished and sighed while shaking hi head.

"Alright fine" He said with a smile.

"Oh Thank you!" Ariel said twirling around giggling to herself like a little girl.

"You wont regret it!" Ariel said giving him a hug.

"Yeah... sure... I guess" Marty said a little stunned that she hugged him

"What a strange turn of events" Marty said to himself as he swam back to Atlantica. It wasn't hard to find the golden underwater city because there were roads on the ocean floor made of coral. Because they swam and didn't need to walk Marty assumed that it was a guide so merpeople wouldn't get lost in the vast ocean.

Upon Arriving at the Palace Marty immediately started to look around for the dining room. He knew if he didn't find it now he would never find it later.

After swimming for ten minutes Marty gave up and went back to the guest room. He found it weird that he was living in a survival suit. He always thought if someone was to live in a survival suit it would be on another planet or something. Not underwater.

Sighing to himself he floated down onto the sponge bed and tried to fall asleep in his survival suit. It wasent easy or comfortable but he eventually succeeded and drifted off into a land of dreams.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Dinner For Two

_Marty turned around to see a redheaded mermaid swimming through the air. He was on land and yet that didn't seem to matter. Then she started singing a sweet incomprehensible melody to him as he sat to a rock in the middle of a desert. Suddenly Marty could hear the melody clearly and could understand the words._

"_What would I give, to live where you are?"_

"_What would I pay to stay here beside you?"_

"_What would I do to see you, smiling at me?"_

"_Where would we walk, where would we run, if we could stay all day in the sun?"_

"_Just you and me, and I could be, part of your world"_

_It was then that the mermaid began to cry and for a moment stopped singing as if it were an intermission. After about a minute she began to sing to him again._

"_I don't know when"_

"_I don't know how"_

"_But I know something starting right now!"_

Marty woke up

"Watch and you'll see, someday ill be, Part of your..."

"World!" Ariel concluded.

Marty had woken up from his dream only to find that he wasn't really dreaming. Sure he wasn't in a desert, and Ariel wasn't swimming through the air. But she WAS singing and she WAS crying. The only thing that confused Marty was... well the fact she was singing and crying.

"Um Ariel?" Marty said sitting upright on the... bed. Ariel looked up quickly and realized that he had been watching her. Ariel blushed a little and quickly swam off before Marty could start questioning her.

"That was Weird" Marty said to himself before mentally slapping himself. Of course that was weird! The past few hours have been weird! He thought to himself. He then realized that he was going to be having dinner with them and decided that he should get ready. He once again mentally slapped himself when he realized that he was underwater in a wet suit. He COULDN'T get ready even if he tried.

Sighing to himself he decided he should at least try and get familiar with the layout of the castle or try and find out what Merpeople eat for dinner. Swimming out of the room Marty wandered around the castle for not even five minutes before he (literally) bumped into someone.

"Ouch" A young female mermaid said rubbing her forehead. She was pretty about 20 years old and had blonde hair held up in a ponytail. She had a red tail and red seashell bras to match. She had light blue eyes and bore a strange resemblance to Ariel.

"Watch where your going!" she said sharply. She kept rubbing her sore head. Marty realized that his head also hurt and reached up to rub it. We must have bumped heads Marty thought.

"I'm sorry. Are you okay?" Marty asked getting up and holding out his hand to help her up. She looked at him for a moment questioning his plans.

"Yes I'm fine" She said taking his hand.

"I didn't mean to bump into you" Marty said apologetic. "I was looking for the dining room and I seem to have gotten lost" Marty said with a shrug. He hated admitting that he was lost, Especially to a girl.

"Well your going the wrong way" She said with a smile. "I'm also on my way to dinner, you can follow me" She said swimming off.

"Okay but um... whats your name?" Marty asked.

"Arista" She said happily with a smile. "Whats yours?"

"Marty" He said.

"Hello Marty I hope your enjoying your stay in Atlantica" She said.

They swam all the way to the dinning room which was HUGE. Marty stopped in the doorway, mouth agape at the size of the room. It was incredible that this was all made by people who were less advanced than humans.

"Ah I see you've met Arista" King Triton said from across the room. He was smiling and had his Triton at his side leaned up against his chair.

"Come on in don't be shy" He said happily motioning for him to sit.

Marty swam over to the seat that Triton motioned for him to sit in. luckily it was right next to Ariel and the King. He was about to sit down when he had a horrid realization. He couldn't eat underwater! Marty started to get lightheaded and queasy. His cover would be blow if he attempted to eat by lifting up his mask.

"Now Marty, I would like you to meet my daughters" Triton said happily motioning at all the girls sitting at the table.

"My oldest daughter Aquata, Andrina, Arista, Attina, Adella and Alana" Triton said pointing to each daughter as he said their name.

"And of course you know Ariel" He said.

"Yes I do" Marty said looking at all the faces in front of him.

They talked for a few minutes before an octopus came into the room carrying trays of food on each tentacle. Marty wondered how he was able to swim without using his tentacles.

"Ah Prefect!" Triton said with a smile. As they all dug in Marty sat there staring at the "food" on the table. It was mostly seaweed just cooked in different ways. Seaweed pasta, seaweed pizza, and seaweed salad!" he didn't know that there were so many ways to cook seaweed when he realized that they can't cook underwater!

"Marty are you okay?" Triton asked. He had noticed that the guest hadn't even made an effort to get the food.

"Um... no not really" Marty said realizing how absurd the situation was. He was living underwater, in a wet suit, and eating dinner with merfolk, while sitting next to the king of the merpeople! Marty began to feel dizzy and soon found it hard to see.

"If yo don't mind I'd like to be excused" Marty said desperately. He felt like he needed to get to the surface just so he could get back to reality.

"Yes of course" Triton said. He could hear the desperation in Marty's voice and knew something was wrong.

"Thank you" Marty said somewhat calmly getting up. He swam out of the dinning room somewhat calmly and once he was out of sight swam as fast as he could to the surface.

**PLEASE REVIEW AND COMMENT. I Hate that I only have two comments and yet the story is 9 chapters long!**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Trouble

Marty breached the surface and immediately ripped off his mask. He took deep breaths to try and calm himself, all the while thoughts were rushing around in his head. He couldn't get his mind off the fact that they all thought that he was a weird fish.

"What have I gotten myself into?" Marty said to himself shaking his head. He looked towards land and thought about what he should do.

"I have to make my decision now" Marty said to himself. If he decided to go back down below the waves, he would have to remain there until the three day trip was up. If he chose to go back to land however, he would never see her again.

Little did Marty know, a little red crab was watching him.

"Dat's no fish! Dat's a man! A human! Oh the sea king would kill him if he knew humans could live underwater" Sebastian whispered to himself.

Marty made his decision and pulled his mask back on. He looked back at the island in the distance with a rundown castle by the shore before diving beneath the waves.

Sebastian watched as the human dived below the waves and swam off towards Atlantica. Deciding not to tell the king, but rather question Ariel later. Sebastian followed the human back to the castle keeping his distance.

Swimming back to the beautiful city was easy, and so was finding the castle. But for Marty, finding the dinning room was going to be a challenge. He wandered through the halls before finally giving up. He turned around and came face to face with a bright red crab with crossed arms.

"Just what are you doing wandering the halls of the palace?" Sebastian asked. He knew they were in the treasury hallway. Behind each door were jewels and shells of very valuable nature, even to the humans. Sebastian knew the human was planning on stealing something before running off to the surface where the king would never find him.

"I'm trying to find the dinning room can you please help me?" Marty said in a relived and yet stressed tone. And for some reason Sebastian believed him. He didn't know why, he just knew the human was telling the truth.

"Your in da wrong part of da palace" Sebastian said. "Da Dinning room is on de other side of da palace" He said pointing behind him.

"Thanks, Oh and by the way. Is everyone still eating?" Marty asked as he began to swim away.

"Dey should be" He said.

"Thanks again!" Marty replied eagerly swimming off. By the time he reached the dinning room his legs were throbbing from swimming. He could tell that only by being underwater for a few hours, his legs were getting stronger.

"Ah I see you've decided to join us again!" Triton said with a smile. As he said it all eyes in the room fell on him as he swam forward. He made his way to his seat next to Ariel and Triton and sat down. The beautiful red head next to him gave him a calm reassuring smile. He instantly felt better and relaxed his muscles.

He sat there admiring Ariel and being intimidated by Triton's large looming figure throughout dinner. Once everyone had eaten Triton decided to ask why Marty didn't eat anything.

"Marty?" Triton said in a clear concerned voice. "Why didn't you eat anything?" he asked.

"I don't eat" Marty said. He knew that he shouldn't lie, it would eventually come back to get him like always. However Marty didn't have much choice in this case.

"Is that so? Tell me then, how are you able to survive?" Triton asked genuinely curious.

"I don't know" Marty shrugged. "I guess I just... do" he said.

"Very well then" Triton said rubbing his chin.

Marty bowed and swam off to his room where he would finally have some peace.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Out Of The Sea

Marty swam off to his room somewhat familiar with the layout of the palace by now. He swam in and thought to himself about possibly staying here... permanently. He didn't know how he would be able to eat, or what his friends would think happened to him. All he knew was that life under the sea was much better than life on the surface.

"Hey Marty" Ariel said swimming over to him. She had become a part of Marty through the short time he had known her.

"Hi Ariel" "How was your dinner" He asked letting her know he didn't eat.

"Yeah I overheard, why didn't you eat?" She asked curiously.

"Um I'm Human, Remember?" Marty said sadly. He was absolutely sure that life under the sea was better.

"Whats wrong?" Ariel asked concerned. She had never seen Marty so down before.

"Nothing its just..." Marty trailed off unaware of how to approach the topic. 'She'll think I'm silly for wanting to be like her!' Marty thought to himself.

"Just what?" Ariel asked curiously. Her arms were intertwined behind her back and she just floated there in the water. Her red vibrant hair, flowing all over the place. She looked so innocent and sweet.

"I-I-I" Marty began. "I-I want to... Become part of your world" Marty said sheepishly like a kid asking for something but knowing that his parents will say no.

"Why?" Ariel giggled. She had never thought of her world as wonderful in any way. Especially after she became human.

"Because... your world is so... Perfect. Everyone's friendly and happy, there's no fighting, fish can TALK" Marty said. He noticed Ariel sadden a little as he listed all the things wrong with his world.

"Whats wrong?" Marty asked concerned. Ariel was always the happiest person he'd ever met and seeing her sad hurt him.

"What? Oh, nothing" Ariel said sadly. She turned away from him unable to keep eye contact. She focused her eyes on the seafloor as they began to water.

"Ariel I may have only known you for one day, but I can tell your upset about something" Marty said in a warm comforting tone.

"I just... hate hearing about how bad your world is" Ariel said finally.

"What do you mean?" Marty asked surprised. The answer he got from her had caught him off guard as well as confused him.

"I used to be part of your world Marty" Ariel said sadly and softly.

"What? what do you mean?" Marty asked confused.

Ariel looked up at the surface and sighed to herself. She thought for a moment on how to start the story.

"Long ago when I was a teenager I used to be obsessed with the human world. One day I was in my secret grotto when I saw something overhead. I went to investigate and saw fireworks in the sky. At the time I had no idea what they were"

"Then what happened?" Marty asked softly. He was listening intently to her story which had griped his imagination.

"I went over to investigate and climbed up the side of the ship. I saw a bunch of humans having a birthday party for Prince Eric" Ariel said smiling at the memory of her first encounter with Eric.

"Who's Prince Eric?" Marty asked. He had never heard of anyone with that name in history class.

"He was my husband. When I first saw him I realized that I wanted to be with him for the rest of my life". And so Ariel began to tell her story of how she went to the sea witch and traded her voice for legs, how she tried to get Eric to kiss her and how she thwarted the sea witches attempt to marry Eric. She told of how Eric saved her and her father and all of Atlantica.

"When my father aw how much we loved each other he decided to give me legs so I could be with him" Ariel said tears of joy forming at her eyes a she recalled the happy memory.

"Where is Eric?" Marty asked as she finished her story.

"He Died, a long time ago" Ariel said. Tears of sadness now covered her face.

"I'm sorry" Marty said.

"Don't be its not your fault" Ariel said with a smile through her tear stained face.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Shocking Revelation

Marty comforted Ariel for a minute or two before they both heard a coughing sound behind them.

Startled the two jumped in surprise and turned around to see a red crab with his arms crossed staring at them.

"Hi Sebastian" Ariel said enthusiastic, putting on a happy face for her friend.

"Don't Hi me Ariel" Sebastian said sternly. "I know your friends little secret" He said pointing his claw at Marty. "And if da Sea King Finds out! He'll be furious!" Sebastian said waving his claws around through the air.

"W-what do you mean?" Ariel asked trying to laugh it off.

"I mean I saw him on da surface! And he took of his face! He's a human Ariel!" Sebastian said almost yelling. Sebastian was panting and fuming with anger.

"Sebastian I think your just a little mistaken" Ariel said calmly trying to salvage the situation. "Maybe there was a glare from the sun?" Ariel said smiling. While Ariel was calm, Marty was shaking in fear. He didn't know what would happen if the sea king found out but from the crabs reaction it couldn't be good.

"I know what I saw Ariel" Sebastian said firmly. He may be old but he was no fool. "If you know whats good for ya boy I suggest you leave" Sebastian said poking Marty in the chest.

"What if I AM human? Would you really tell on me?" Marty asked trying to be brave.

"No, I wouldn't but keep this in mind, the sea king ALWAYS finds out" Sebastian said in a serious tone. He kept eye contact with Marty the whole time.

"And Ariel, DON'T forget you have singing rehearsal tomorrow at noon" Sebastian said in an off note.

"I wont forget Sebastian" Ariel said with a smile.

"And as for you boy, let me give you a little bit of advice. Stay out of trouble and keep a low profile and you'll be fine" Sebastian said in a calmer tone than before.

"Thanks for the tip" Marty said with a smile. Sebastian gave him a half smile.

"Oh Ariel, I'm getting too old for dis. When are you going to settle down?" Sebastian asked.

"Sebastian I just don't think that ill ever settle down" Ariel said with a playful laugh.

"You might want to give it a try you know, it can be quit relaxing" He said with a chuckle.

"Not a chance Sebastian" Ariel said with a laugh.

"Well den I'd better be on my way" Sebastian said giving Marty a disapproving glance before swimming off.

"Bye Sebastian" Ariel said as he left.

Ariel gave a big sigh of relief as she sank down on Marty's sponge bed. It was obvious that she had been faking her good mood and happiness.

"What am I going to do?" Ariel said to herself. She lay on the bed shaking her head with her hands covering her face.

"Do about what?" Marty asked swimming over to Ariel.

"Sebastian is right, every time I hid something from my father he found out" Ariel said removing her hands from her face so she could look at Marty as he sat on the bed. She looked like she was in distress.

"Like what?" Marty asked trying to keep the green tailed mermaid talking.

"Like when I tried to keep a killer whale in my room for three months, or when I saved Eric from drowning, and who can forget my Grotto?" Ariel said lying on her back on the bed.

Marty sat down on the bed next to her and thought for a second. He knew the crab was just trying to scare them, and for some reason it worked with Ariel. But because he was human, a tiny little red crab getting in his face wasn't that intimidating. He had only appeared scared so the crab would think his plan worked.

"Don't listen to that fool Ariel, hes only trying to scare you" Marty said in a reassuring tone.

"I know but hes right" Ariel said. Marty sighed and thought for a moment. He wondered if he should try and change the subject to get Ariel's mind off of things.

"Say what did he mean you have a singing rehearsal tomorrow?" Marty asked. He guessed it wouldn't hurt to try and take her mind off what Sebastian had said.

"Me and my sisters sing for the kingdom" Ariel said with enthusiasm. She seemed to forget her previous dilemma and seemed eager to tell Marty about her singing.

"What do you sing?" Marty asked actually intrigued.

"Well usually I sing whatever Sebastian tells us to sing, he is the court composer after all" Ariel said.

"No, I mean what type of music do you sing? Rock, Pop, Classic?" Marty asked, he was guessing that since they were not that different from each other, then their music shouldn't be either. But judging from the look he was getting from Ariel, he was wrong.

"What do you mean?" Ariel asked confused.

"Never mind" Marty said with a sigh.

"Okay well, I'm going to be in my room" Ariel said getting up.

"Okay I'm Going to sleep for the night" Marty said with a yawn.

"Night" Ariel said.

"Good night Ariel" Marty said closing his eyes.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Rehearsal

Marty awoke slowly next morning to glittering rays of light bouncing around on the sea floor.

"What a weird feeling living underwater" Marty said to himself as he stretched his arms and legs. He checked to make sure his mask was working correctly and didn't break in his sleep. Once he was done with that he slowly made his way out of the room. He peeked his head out into the hallway to be sure that no one was watching him before swimming out into the hall. He swam down the hallway searching each room for a sight of the red headed princess.

Marty made his way out of the palace and into the open ocean. He still saw no sign of her yet he continued to look. Suddenly though as he neared the grotto he heard a soft beautiful voice ring through the sea.

"What would I give, to live where you are. What would I pay, to stay here beside you. What would I do to see you, smiling at me? Where would we walk, where would we run, if we could stay all day in the sun! just you and me, and I could be, Part of your world"

Marty reached the entrance to the grotto just as the person inside finished singing. Marty looked inside of the grotto to find it empty.

"Hello?" Marty called. It was eerily quiet and Marty's voice bounced off the walls of the grotto. Marty failed to notice the red head floating quietly above him waiting to strike.

"HELLO MARTY" Ariel called leaping on top of Marty and scaring the crap out of him at the same time.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" Marty yelled. He looked up only to be pranced upon by Ariel who was having a laughing fit.

Marty hit the seafloor with Ariel on top of him giggling.

"Ariel" Marty whined "Don't scare me like that!" He said feeling embarrassed that he had yelled so loud and the fact that she had scared him.

"I'm sorry Marty" Ariel said giggling.

"What are you doing here anyways? Don't you have something else to do?" Marty said with a raised eyebrow.

"Like what?" Ariel said clueless. Marty sighed and shook his head with disbelief.

"Oh I don't know? Perhaps Rehearsal?" Marty said calmly.

"Oh shoot! I forgot!" Ariel said smacking her head with her hand.

"You know if I were you I would make sure not to upset that red crustacean" Marty said remembering last nights encounter with Sebastian.

"Oh come on Marty, Sebastian is such a softy. He may seem tough, but he still loves me" Ariel said smiling.

"Yeah, whatever" Marty said examining the books that lines one of the "shelves" of the grotto.

"Hey" Marty said to himself picking up a book from the selection. "I've read this book" Marty said to himself and Ariel.

"Which one?" Ariel asked swimming over to him.

"Of Mice And Men" Marty said slowly turning the book around to examine its features. "But, how did you get it?" Marty asked "Its relatively new" Marty said.

"What do you mean, Relatively new?" Ariel asked confused.

"Well considering how long you've supposedly lived for, it was published in 1937 almost 90 years ago" Marty said opening the book.

"I just found it one day" Ariel said shrugging her shoulders.

"Did you read it? Er I mean Can you read it?" Marty asked. He had no idea if she could read, and if she could read he had no idea if she could understand new literature.

"Yes I can read thank you" Ariel said giving him a weird look. "And yes I have read it" Ariel said.

"Well? What did you think of it?" Marty asked eager to know what she thought of the story.

"It was very... sad" Ariel said remembering the ending. "He didn't deserve that" She said unhappily.

"I know but when you think about though it was the best, I mean everyone else was going to hang him! At least the other way was quicker. But still he must have felt bad about what he did to Lenny" Marty said. The book made him sad there was no doubt about it.

"I guess your right" Ariel said sadly. Marty put the book back where it was about turned to Ariel.

"Come on Ariel lets get to rehearsal" He said swimming off to the exit. Ariel giggled and followed him.

"Your very slow you know that?" Ariel asked as they swam back to the palace.

"Yeah I know" Marty said unhappily. He wished he had a tail like Ariel, he wished he could breathe underwater, he wished that he could live under the sea without gear.

They arrived at the rehearsal not a moment too soon. Sebastian was getting ready to start but had not yet noticed Ariel was gone. Swimming quickly over to her seat she sat down right as the crab walked in. He was very surprised to find Ariel actually there ON TIME for once. He took note of the fact and continued on.

"Lets get started now then shall we? We must be ready for your fathers party tomorrow so were not going to stop until we get this right" Sebastian said with a certain authority that is earned not learned.

Marty watched the lessons from hall out of Sebastian's sight but with a perfect view of Ariel. No sooner had they gotten started that Flounder showed up and joined Marty in the hall.

"Hey!" the little yellow fish said. Marty chuckled.

"Hey there" He said rubbing the fish on the head. Marty Liked Flounder, He was very fun to be around and even though he didn't admit it, he liked humans.

"What are you doing here Marty?" Flounder asked. Wagging his little tail excitedly.

"I'm Listening to Ariel rehearse" Marty said tickling the fishes belly causing him to erupt into a fit of laughter.

"Why are YOU here?" Marty asked the little fish.

"I always listen to Ariel sing" Flounder said happily.

As they continued to talk they could hear Ariel and her sisters start to sing in perfect harmony. They were so good that Marty began to fall asleep. HE could hear Flounder hum along with the tune they were singing as he drifted off into sleep.

Chapter 14

Wake up

Marty woke up to Flounder tapping him on the arm.

"Hey, Marty!" Flounder whispered.

"Hmmouhhhoh" Marty Groaned in response. Ariel giggled behind Flounder at Marty's response. Marty was slumped up against the wall outside the music room of the palace. Ariel's music lesson had ended a few minutes ago but Marty was still asleep.

"Come on silly get up" Ariel said playfully punching him on the shoulder.

"Wh-what?" Marty said blearily getting up blinking his eyes in confusion.

"You fell asleep during the rehearsal" Flounder said. Marty yawned (which s very difficult to do in a mask).

"How long was I out for?" Marty asked checking his wrist for his watch.

"Hey what is that?" Ariel asked looking at his watch with great interest. She thought that it was some sort of miniature clock but she had never seen one work underwater. Also it looked strange to her.

"It's a watch" Marty said twisting his wrist so Ariel could see. Ariel now had a better view and was able to see that it was indeed a miniature clock. She recognized the hands and the roman numerals.

"Whats a watch?" Ariel asked curiously.

"It's like a miniature clock" Marty said confirming Ariel's assumptions. Ariel finished examining the watch before letting go of Marty's wrist. She thought to herself for a minute. Marty tried guessing what she was thinking about.

"What are thinking about?" Marty asked. Ariel looked at him startled by the fact that she had drifted off.

"What?" She asked not comprehending what he had just said.

"What are you thinking about?" Marty said slower this time so Ariel would be able to understand.

"I was thinking about life on the surface" Ariel said sadly. She lowered her head to look down at her fin wishing she didn't have it again.

"Daddy wouldn't let me live on the surface after Eric died, he said it was too dangerous to live alone" Ariel said, tears falling from her eyes only to merge with the surrounding water.

"He's right you know" Marty said in a soft tone realizing the touchy subject. "Life on the surface nowadays is cruel and unforgiving" he said giving her a smile.

"I don't believe you" Ariel said with a wide smile. Marty smiled back.

"Hey uh you guys okay?" Flounder asked not liking what he was seeing.

"Chill out Flounder I'm just trying to cheer her up" Marty said waving his hand causing Flounder to tumble backwards.

Getting up they decided to go and see some sights of the kingdom. Ariel lead the way with Flounder as her personal Assistant. Marty followed along and listened to Ariel tell stories about the water slide or the time she was almost eaten by a shark. In the end Marty learned a lot about the ocean and had a better awareness of life under the sea.

"Well I'm kinda hungry, why don't you guys go back to the palace and get something to eat and we can all eat on the surface?" Marty said.

"But why not eat with daddy?" Ariel said chuckling a little.

"Um, human. Remember?" Marty said motioning at his body.

"Oh... right" Ariel said embarrassed that she had forgotten. It seemed like Marty belonged in the sea sometimes.

"Yeah, and its kinda hard to sit and watch you guys eat in front of me" Marty said.

"But why don't you have your own food?" Ariel asked curiously.

"I lost it" Marty said quickly and suspiciously. Ariel eyed him curiously, unsure of what to think by his small action. Truth be told Marty did lose it, by tossing it into a deep underwater trench. His meal was fish.

"Well that's unfortunate" Ariel said.

"Well we better get going now if we want to get something to eat" Flounder said. He was floating at Ariel's side as always. He had his silly little smile plastered on his face.

"Yeah your right Flounder, but well need a good excuse if daddy's going to let us eat out of the palace" Ariel said worriedly.

"Why would it be a problem? People in the human world rarely eat in the dinning room" Marty said surprised. He thought that they all ate together because they had him as a guest.

"We always eat together or we don't eat at all" Ariel said sadly. She wanted more than anything to be a part of the human world again. But she understood where her father was coming from. Ever since entire species started going extinct because of humans he banned contact with them.

Ariel swam off leaving Marty to contemplate his thoughts.

**Due to a complaint about how short my chapters were, i decided to join 13 and 14 together. Hope you enjoy it and PLEASE REVIEW! I Really want to know how i'm doing with this story so please review to give me your feedback.**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 16

The Day of Days

Marty was upset that tomorrow would be his last day, he had been having so much fun in Ariel's world he wanted desperately to live there.

He went up to the surface and got out his cell phone tucked neatly inside his suit. He called for his friend to bring him his guitar and Ipod.

"Why the hell do you want your guitar and Ipod?" Ray asked totally confused as to why his best friend would ask him that.

"I just want to do a few experiments" Marty said watching the signal strength fluctuate.

"Experiments?" Ray asked wondering why he would want to ruin a guitar and Ipod.

"Just get it for me" Marty said annoyed by his friends interrogation. Marty didn't blame him though, if he was in Ray's position he would be asking the exact same thing.

"Whatever you say bro" Ray said hanging up.

Marty hung up the phone and waited. He liked thinking to himself about life, friends, work, history, whatever was on his mind. But this time only one thing kept popping into his head, Ariel. Marty liked her that much was clear, but did he love her? The entire time he was with her he had more fun than he had in his 28 years of life. 'I'm lucky' Marty thought to himself, '28 and I still have hair, a great body, and good health'.

Marty floated there alone with his thoughts for about an hour before he spotted his friend. Ray was speeding towards him. Ray was wearing a white T-shirt and jeans and looked like he just rolled out of bed.

"Ray, what happened you look like you just threw some clothes on and got in the boat" Marty said climbing up the side of the boat. He hadn't been out of the water for more than two days.

"That's because I did" Ray responded with a grunt. He had an unlit cigarette in his mouth and every time he talked or moved his mouth the cigarette would jerk up and down.

"You got my stuff?" Marty asked in an upbeat tone. Ray pointed to a heap of junk at the side of the boat. Marty walked over and picked up his guitar and Ipod, He then preceded to jump in the water and swim off.

"WHAT THE HELL? NOT EVEN A GOODBYE?" Ray said to himself as he started the boat.

Marty speed down to the bottom of the sea with all his stuff hoping that they would still work. He wanted Ariel to get a taste of the human world before he left.

He got to the seafloor and scanned the area. No one. 'Perfect' Marty thought to himself setting the things down and turning on his Ipod. It worked.

'I wonder whats happening in the world' Marty thought as he fiddled with his Ipod. He decided to check by turning on his radio that was built into the Ipod. Even out in the middle of the sea he got reception.

He fiddled with the stations trying to find something interesting.

...AND IN OTHER NEWS THE BAND GREEN DAY WILL BE PREFORMING LIVE TONIGHT AT THE SONO BEACH HOUSE... 8:30 TONIGHT...TICKETS ARE STILL ON SALE AT...

Marty turned off the radio, he had heard enough. This was going to be the best night ever, Ariel will have a blast, Marty wouldn't even need to sing, but he decided that Ariel would prefer it if he sang.

6:30 and Marty was all set and ready to go. He waited for Ariel to come into the Grotto, which he had decorated with certain human things Ariel had collected to make it more magical. He collected multicolored lights and put them up around the opening at the top of the Grotto, when he turned them on, they are connected to a motor which will make them move around causing a disco effect. He found some amplifiers and connected them together to provide maximum sound quality.

Ariel swam in just as Marty was finished. Much to his delight Ariel had decided to have fun and dress up as if she was going to a real concert. She had a pear necklace, her hair was combed perfectly, and she had gold colored coral earrings.

"Hello Marty" Ariel said swimming into the Grotto, her green tail sparkling under the moonlight that managed to get into the cave. "Wow this is cool" Ariel said surveying his handiwork.

"Well I'm no professional but I think I did a good job decorating" Marty said swimming over to Ariel's side to survey his own work.

"I think its wonderful" Ariel said hugging Marty. Somehow Ariel managed to have perfume on underwater which didn't displease Marty, but it did make him question what humans know about the ocean.

"Soooo, shall we begin?" Marty asked taking Ariel's hand and leading her to a rock at the edge of the cavern.

"Sure" Ariel said giggling. It was music to Marty's ears.

"Then let us begin" Marty said picking up his guitar and plugging it into the amplifier, Ariel sat quietly and patiently with her hands on her lap.

Marty practiced a few strums and tuned the guitar. He cleared his throat and looked out at Ariel.

"This is a personal favorite of mine, its a song by my favorite band, Green Day" Marty said speaking into a microphone he found.

"Hey Gloria?  
Are you standing close to the edge?  
Lookout to the setting sun  
The brink of your vision  
Eternal youth is a landscape of the lie"

Ariel listened to the song intently thinking about each word and its meaning. She would sing to tell stories or he wants and needs, how she felt, but this, this was something else.

"The cracks of my skin can prove  
As the years will testify  
Say your prayers and light a fire we're going to start a war  
Your slogan's a gun for hire  
It's what we waited for"

Ariel loved Marty's voice, it was deep, smooth, calming, and peaceful.

Hey Gloria

This is why we were on the edge  
The fight of our lives been drawn to this undying love

Marty was finding it rather difficult to play this song on the guitar since it is played on the piano in the first part. Ariel was enjoying it though.

"Gloria!Viva La Gloria!  
You blast your name in graffiti on the walls (oh)  
Falling through broken glass that's slashing through your spirit  
I can hear it like a jilted crowd"

This part startled Ariel, she had never heard such... hard music. She didn't know what to think of it at first but decided that it was nice, she had wanted to sing fiercely sometimes, to let her emotions pour out into the water.

"Gloria!Where are you Gloria?  
You found a home in all your scars and ammunition  
You made your bed in salad days amongst the ruins  
Ashes to ashes of our youth

She smashed her knuckles into winter (Gloria)  
As autumns wind fades into black  
She is the saint of all the sinners (Gloria)  
The one that's fallen through the cracks  
So don't put away your burning light

Gloria!Where are you Gloria?  
Don't lose you faith to your lost naivete  
Weather the storm and don't look back on last November  
When your banners were burning down

Gloria!Viva La Gloria!  
Send me your amnesty down to the broken hearted  
Bring us the season that we always will remember  
Don't let the bonfires go out

So Gloria

Send out your message of the light that shadows in the night  
Gloria where's your undying love?  
Tell me the story of your life ...  
(Your life!) "

If Marty wasn't underwater he would be seating buckets right now. He had never poured such emotion and love into anything before. 

"Marty, that was... Amazing!" Ariel said swimming up to Marty and giving him a hug. She released her embrace but kept her hands on his shoulders.

"You liked it?" Marty asked with a chuckle.

"Liked it? I LOVED it! I never heard such... enthralling music, it seemed to give you a sense of...Ugh I can't explain it!" Ariel said, upset that she couldn't let Marty in on her experience.

"I know what you mean" Marty said. "That's how I felt when I first heard it" Marty said checking his watch. It was 8:04 They needed to start swimming if they were going to make it. The Sono beach house was a fairly good distance away.

"Ariel, I have another surprise for you, but you have to go to the surface, and it involves getting fairly close to humans... lots and lots of humans" Marty said looking deep into Ariel's eyes

Ariel smiled and got close to Marty's face.

"Whats the surprise?"


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 17

Marty floated with Ariel on the surface watching the beach from a distance. The people on the beach looked like ants but Marty was still close enough to make out peoples details. They were floating just inside the boat markers which boats are not supposed to go past and swimmers are also not supposed to cross.

"Look at all those humans" Ariel said admiring the people on the beach. Ariel always thought that humans were better species than Merfolk. For one thing humans can live on land and under the sea, and they have an amazing ability to understand the universe and how things work.

"Yeah the concert should be starting soon all the people are getting ready, a lot of them have glow sticks" Marty said looking at all the people. Behind them boats were bobbing up and down with the waves. Some of the boats were big yachts but most were small to medium size.

The sun had set but the large floodlights set up on the beach allowed them to see everything clearly. Suddenly a loud strum of a electric guitar amplified by huge speakers pierced the ocean calm.

Smoke started to pour off the stage and Marty and Ariel could barely make out figures on the stage. Marty could hear them playing American Idiot but from their distance it was muffled somewhat. Marty immediately had an idea but dismissed it, at that moment he knew Ariel would have the same idea.

"I'm going to get a closer look" Ariel said diving into the ocean.

"No wait ARIEL" Marty cried swimming after her. If anyone saw her it would immediately arouse suspicion, no one is allowed in the water since its dark and there are no life guards on duty.

"Ariel Stop!" Marty yelled chasing after her. In just three days Marty had begun to swim faster than before and was now able to compete with Ariel's speed.

"ARIEL!" Marty called through the water. Marty had never seen Ariel so excited before, it was strange to Marty to see her swim as fast as she could towards her goal.

At last she came to a stop in the shallow water, just below the surface. They were probably 12 feet from the shore, if it were low tide they would be on land.

"Ariel, don't go to the surface" Marty said cautiously not knowing what to do.

Ariel was laying on the sand and slowly raising her head up towards the surface. They were so close Marty could make out blurry figures of people on the beach.

"Ariel listen to me do not stick your head above the water" Marty said getting frantic.

Ariel stuck her head above the waves. On the beach Ariel could see humans some on blankets, most standing up all of them were watching, and hearing, and talking about the same thing, that band on the stage.

"Why don't you listen to me? Do I just have a face that no one listens to?" Marty said getting upset. "That's it!" Marty said grabbing Ariel's tail and pulling her out into deeper water.

"HEY! What's your deal!" Ariel said crossing her arms and staring angrily at Marty. Unfortunately for her, Marty thought that she looked cute when she was mad, which caused him to chuckle.

"WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT?" Ariel replied angrily.

"Your so cute when your angry" Marty said.

"CUTE?" Ariel yelled. "That's it I am done her tonight!" Ariel said storming off into the ocean.

"Ariel wait!" Marty said chasing after her.

"HELP, MARTY!" Ariel called from off in the distance. Marty raced over to where he heard her scream hoping she was okay. As he approached Marty could make out Ariel trapped in a net being towed by a large fishing boat.

"Dammit" Marty whispered to himself swimming after the boat.


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey Fanfiction veiwers, i just want to thank all of you for your intrest in my story. At its peak the maximum amount of veiws i had in one month was ****1,210 Hits and 278 Visitors. I want to thank everyone who read and enjoyed this story. Also please don't forget to review It helps me as a writer to become better.**

**And now here it is, the second to last chapter...**

Chapter 18

Marty chased after the large fishing boat trying desperately to close the distance between them. After about thirty minutes of swimming Marty finally caught up with the boat. It was a fairly large fishing ship, about 50 yards long.

Marty climbed up the side of the ship and looked on the deck. There was no one. The rich blackness of the night was pierced by the lights on the ship. Marty climbed on board the ship not knowing what to expect, he was an intruder, an invader, and unwelcome guest. But he didn't care, he wanted to find Ariel and go back to his home where he belonged.

Marty carefully searched the top of the ship looking in barrels, nets, and even boxes. He finally finished searching and knew what he had to do next. He had to go below the deck and search the inside of the ship without getting caught. Which is much easier said than done.

Marty striped himself of his big bulky fins, and his face mask. He was going to have to be sneaky and fast. He quickly hid his things behind a barrel close to the edge of the boat in case he would have to make a quick getaway.

Marty took a deep breath and quickly descended into the ship. Marty searched the entire second floor without seeing Ariel or the crew.

It was on the third deck that he saw Ariel, in a large fish tank protected by a soundly sleeping guard.

"MARTY!" Ariel exclaimed when she saw him.

"SHH-SHUT THE-SHHH" Marty said flailing his arms around trying to get he to be quiet.

'sorry' Ariel mouthed.

'How do I get you out?' Marty half whispered, half mouthed.

Ariel pointed to a latch at the top of the tank, there was a small opening and a fold down ladder for easy access to the tank when its not in use. The entire tank was made out of a clear thick plastic, it reminded Marty of the plastic glass at ice hockey rinks, only much clearer.

Marty climbed on top of the tank and quietly unlatched the small door. He pulled down the ladder to make it easier for Ariel to get up. Quickly and quietly Ariel climbed up the ladder and got pulled out of the tank by Marty. Marty carefully picked her up and slowly started to make his way off the tank.

Marty quickly made his way topside where he threw Ariel overboard before going back to grab his gear. As soon as he was ready he heard alarms start to ring and men start yelling.

"Time to go" Marty said to himself before jumping overboard into the sea which he has grown to love.

"Thank you for saving me" Ariel said gratefully. She would never have gotten out of that situation by herself. While she was captured there was one moment where she thought Marty was not going to rescue her, after all she had been a jerk to him. After running off she was not sure if Marty had followed her or not.

"It was nothing" Marty said shrugging it off. In reality though it was something. Marty risked getting caught and most likely arrested at the least. "You would have done the same for me" Marty added letting her know he trusted her.

"I couldn't even if I tried" Ariel said laughing. "I have fins, not feet" she said pointing to her bright green fins. Ariel would have tried though, she would have found some way to get Marty back. Nevertheless she was grateful for him saving her.

"Come on, we should get back home" Marty said. He realized that he just called Atlantica home, which came as a shock to him. He had never felt at home before in his life. But for the first time he felt as if he actually belonged here, and he wanted to stay.

"Marty? Are you okay?" Ariel asked breaking Marty away from his thoughts. He didn't realize that he had drifted off in thought.

"Fine why?" he asked trying to make it seem like nothing happened.

"Your crying" she said looking at him with a worried expression. Marty brought his hand up to his face and felt the salty tears that failed to blend in with the seawater.

"So I am" he said wiping the tears from his face. 'That was odd' Marty thought to himself. Why was he crying? Was it because he loved being under the sea and didn't want to leave? He didn't know, but one thing was certain, he couldn't go back to Atlantica, it would make leaving more painful.

"Ariel, I have to go" Marty said sadly. He didn't want to leave yet, but he knew he must. But mostly he didn't want to see Ariel hurt.

"What? You mean home?" Ariel asked not wanting to believe what she was hearing.

"Yes, but, to my home, above the sea" He said pointing towards the surface. Marty watched as all the happiness and optimism washed away from her face.

"Oh, o-okay" Ariel said, not believing that the time had finally come. Ariel had grown to love having Marty around, without him, she felt lonely and empty inside.

"Its time I moved on, make things the way they were" Marty said trying to justify him running away. There was no justifying it, he was running away not because he had to, but because he chose to. He was scared of what the crab said.

"Look I don't want to make this any harder than it has to be" Marty said.

"I know, just...go" Ariel said, sad that she was losing her fiend.

Marty shrugged and looked at Ariel one last time, admiring all that he had gone through with her. She had her arms crossed and was looking down, avoiding eye contact with him. Her green tail swished through the water with grace, helping to keep her in the same spot.

"Ariel, I'm sorry but, I have family and friends to go to, people who care deeply about me" He said in sorrowful tone.

"I know" She said.

Marty sighed and put his hand on her shoulder. Her soft ghostly white skin felt cool to his touch, yet warm at the same time.

"You, will always be, my friend" Marty said.

With that Marty turned around and headed towards the spot where he and Ray chose to meet once the three days were done.

**The last chapter will be up before the school year starts, I can promise you, even if it is a day before it will be up. Thanks for reading and PLEASE REVIEW!**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 19

Marty was picked up by Ray after three hours of waiting. The water was feeling cold after staying stationary for so long. Marty was a little ticked off that it took Ray s long to get him, normally he would have been there in a few minutes.

"What the heck?" Marty said as Ray pulled him on board "Three hours I've been waiting"

"Sorry bro I was asleep, and didn't get your text until a few minutes ago" Ray said helping Marty out of the scuba gear. "So...?" Ray asked.

"So what?" Marty replied still very upset about the whole waiting thing.

"What was it like living under the sea?" Ray asked looking at him with great interest as if he was about to tell a story.

Marty knew that he had to protect Ariel and the Merpeople, as much as he didn't want to he decided to like to his best friend. It was for the good of the world, Marty thought to himself.

"It sucked, there is absolutely nothing down there, also this mask has a lot of flaws" Marty said, much to Ray's disappointment.

Unknown to Marty and Ray, there was another set of eyes watching and listening to the conversation.

She knew that Marty had just lied, and she was happy that he did. Ariel was hanging on at the front of the boat. She had followed Marty and waited behind the same coral reef he slammed into when he first met her. She waited until Marty was on the boat before coming closer.

Ariel grabbed onto the anchor and hung onto it as she listened to their conversation.

"You mean to tell me you never saw one freaking fish in the three days you were down there?" Ray asked getting annoyed at how Marty was avoiding the questions. He had never seen his friend act like this before and it was starting to worry him.

"I saw a bunch of fish, okay? Bass, flounder, crabs, what more do you want?" Marty said getting angry that his friend wouldn't leave him alone.

"Sorry man, I just thought it would be cool to live under the sea for three days" Ray said sadly, upset that his best friend was also upset.

"It's okay bro, I just had a long three days, I need to sleep" Marty said, he didn't mean to get upset with Ray, he was just sad that he could never see Ariel, or Atlantica, or Flounder ever again.

Ariel watch as Marty thought to himself for a while, he didn't look very happy to Ariel. He sighed and looked up at Ray.

"Ready to go home?" Ray asked him.

"Yeah" Marty said rubbing his face.

He had a long three days, and he really didn't want to go home, but he knew he needed rest and time to think about what happened.

"Lets go" Marty said getting up and turning on the boat.

Marty travel for thirty minutes before he finally reached the harbor. Ariel had to let go of the anchor and follow his boat underwater while in the harbor so no one would see her. As they entered the harbor Ariel was amazed at how many boats there were, she hadn't been in a harbor since she was a human many years ago.

Ariel was able to get a better look at Marty without all that scuba gear on. Marty looked to be in his late teens early twenties, he was wearing a button down Hawaiian pattern shirt which was unbuttoned allowing Ariel to see his muscular chest. He also had on some khaki shorts and blue docksiders. He looked magnificently handsome to Ariel. He had acquired at little stubble after being underwater for three days.

Marty sailed the boat up to one of the docks in the harbor but didn't stop the engines or get off. Instead he dropped off Ray.

Marty noticed movement in the water and swore he saw a streak of red hair. Marty hoped that she was actually there but he new his chances were slim, not even a dumb Mermaid would follow him into a human harbor.

Marty bade farewell to Ray and set off to his own private dock next to his house. Unknown to him he was still being followed by Ariel.

Twenty minutes later Marty arrived at his dock. As he Tied up his boat and started to unpack his things he heard a splash at the front of the boat. Curious Marty walked over to check it out.

Ariel waited for a few minutes hanging on to the anchor at the front of the boat waiting for Marty to get settled before releasing her grip and dropping into the shallow water. Unfortunately she made a little audible splash as she landed. Quickly she swam under the boat to avoid getting caught.

Marty looked over the side of the boat searching for the source of the splash before finally giving up.

After Marty was finished getting his things put away he tied a line to his inflatable tube and decide to relax for a few hours. And so for about thirty minutes Marty lay there relaxing and thinking about all the fun he had in Atlantica, Fun, that's something Marty hadn't had in a long time.

'What's he doing?' Ariel thought to herself.

Ariel decide to be brave an have some fun. Using one of her fins she mimicked a shark circling Marty.

Marty, who heard the sound of water being disturbed, did not notice that the fin was greenish instead of gray.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" Marty said scrambling to get all of his limbs into the tiny tube. Freaking out Marty jumped into the water and swam as fast as he could towards the boat. When he finally reached it he climbed on board as fast as he could. Once he was safe he watched as the green fin submerged. A few seconds later he watched as his tube was pulled under the water.

"This, is very, very weird" Marty said to himself.

He watched as the tube came flying out of the water a few seconds later.

Marty scanned the water for any signs of the shark. He failed to notice a human figure lurking just below the surface in front of him.

"HI" Ariel said jumping out of the water.

"AHHHHHHH!" Marty screamed like a little girl, "Don't do that Ariel" Marty yelled. Marty took a while to calm himself before doing a double take.

"ARIEL WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" Marty said nearly pulling his hair out.

"Marty, first off I want to know two thing," Ariel said holing up two fingers "One, Why you REALLY don't want to see me, and two, why you scream like a girl" She said smiling at the last part.

"Oh I see, make jokes about me, okay" Marty said smiling. "Fine, I'll tell you the real reason" Marty said.

And so Marty told Ariel everything Sebastian said to him, about the threat to tell her father, and how he didn't want to see Ariel get hurt again, By the time he was done they were both sitting on the side of the boat.

"Marty, you never had to leave, first off Sebastian was lying he is too scared of Daddy to do anything. And He doesn't have to worry, I like you as a friend nothing more" Ariel said smiling.

"Gee thanks, it nice to know I never even had a chance with you" Marty said with a smirk.

"Ouch" Marty said as Ariel punched him in the arm.

"Well its nice to know we can still be friends" Marty said.

He sat there for a few hours watching the sun set with Ariel.

_**The End**_


End file.
